A little advice for newbies

A whole bunch of newbies will be starting in October. As a 'seasoned' OU law student (and Learner Experience Rep), I would like to share a little advice on what studying law entails… This is from my own experience of course! I will not speak for anyone else.

First, the law is not that difficult to understand. It teaches a logical and strategic thinking process even while you are learning the content. At first, probably the first four months of W101, you will be confused and find the concepts a bit difficult to understand. This is only natural. However, by the time March or April comes around in 2019, you will find that everything is falling together in place. In the beginning, what I found was that the concepts appeared to be isolated from each other. But then, when you begin to see how it all fits in together, it is far easier to understand.

Try not to put things off at the last minute, whether it is reading that unit or doing that TMA. Falling behind makes it difficult to catch up but not impossible. Your tutor is usually your first port of call. If you have difficulties contacting your tutor then, by all means, contact student support (SST). You will find the link on your student homepage. You will also find that the OU is very flexible and very willing to help you catch up if you fall behind. The most important thing is not to panic, don't feel that the task ahead is impossible, and to take it one small step at a time.

When you are starting off, try not to pay too much attention to what your peers are saying – you will find that there are often misconceptions and bad ideas promulgated on different groups! Remember that they are also new to law, and may be having the same struggles in understanding the concepts just as you do. This is why I am stressing, and I am sure the University will support me in this, please try to contact your tutor first! Your tutor is paid to help you, so do not feel guilty about contacting them.

During the course of your law studies, you will begin to learn many new things, some of which are:

learning how to learn

learning how to write academically

learning how to do proper referencing

learning how to read critically

learning how to think critically

learning how to analyse complex ideas

learning how to summarise these complex ideas

The above list is not exhaustive of course.

If this all sounds complex, don't panic. You will be gradually eased into these, and in most cases, you will never know that you are learning. 

Important:

1) Pay attention to your grammar and spelling. Law requires words, to explain and to convey ideas. Avoid complexity, by thinking that you are explaining these concepts to your grandparents or someone who is less educated than you – as will be your future clients. You can set Microsoft Word to check your grammar as well as spelling, and it will give you a "readability score" on how easy your writing is to understand.

2) Do not take tutor feedback personally. Tutor feedback is usually given in positive terms, but because it is a critique of your writing skills and thinking processes, it is difficult not to feel offended or disheartened. Keep in mind that your tutor is there to help you, not to discourage you and that if you follow their feedback, you will certainly improve – there's no question about that. By following my tutor's advice my grades jumped from the early 70s to the early 90s.

3) Begin to bookmark important legal websites. I will add some of my favourites at the end of this blog post to start you off.

4) Read as many judgements as you can. I love judgements coming out of the Supreme Court because they are written in very simple English, explains complex ideas very simply, and are very good examples of how to write for law.

5) Many law firms have part of their websites dedicated to explaining concepts of law. These are written by experienced solicitors and barristers and will offer you an opportunity to understand the concepts in a simpler format than many of the textbooks. Again, this has been my personal experience. I do not use these websites for reference, merely to understand and break down complex ideas.

I have another post in this forum on software, telling you how to get free software to assist you in your studies and give some examples of useful software that I have used over the years – I have 20+ years ICT experience. Still, you are free to choose whatever your preference is. I only recommend my personal favourites and I am not a replacement for the IT helpdesk at the OU.

Tips:

I have created a folder in my computer with many subfolders inside. The subfolders are named for each course example, W101, W102, et cetera. Inside of these subfolders, I have further subfolders for the TMAs, judgements, statutes (Acts of Parliament) et cetera. Think of your computer like a filing cabinet, and begin by arranging things neatly. You will find that this is beneficial later on for finding stuff – especially after a few years of study when you need to go back refer to previous studies.

Do try to make time to attend your local courts to see how the judicial process works. Most local courts will have volunteer opportunities as well. I appreciate that many of you will be fully employed and also busy with studies, family life et cetera, but it is well worth the sacrifice and time spent. After all, you are studying law to get into this world – hopefully.

Some of my favourite websites:

http://www.bailii.org/ – a repository for cases. You will find almost any case here, and it is an acceptable official source.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules – the Civil Procedure Rules 1998

http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Home.php – website explaining very simply and briefly important concepts with case examples

https://www.cps.gov.uk/ – homepage of the Crown Prosecution Services

https://www.jcpc.uk/ – homepage of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), the final court of many Commonwealth countries.

https://www.supremecourt.uk/ – the UK Supreme Court

https://publications.parliament.uk/ – webpage dedicated to publications arising out of the UK Parliament at Westminster.

Blogs I like:

http://oulawstudent.blogspot.com/ – my personal blog where I document my own study journey

http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/openjustice/ – the Open University's pro bono blog

https://howtogetafirst.wordpress.com/ – how to get a first-class honours degree in law by someone who did it

https://publiclawforeveryone.com/ – Prof Mark Elliott's blog – beautifully and simply written

http://www.thingslegal.co.uk/forum/index.php – a forum that I set up for discussing ideas about law, with a lot of resources uploaded. Members include already qualified lawyers, so the advice given is sound and based upon actual practice.

I hope that you find these tips useful. Good luck with your studies.